A 44-year-old woman police are calling the "Ma Barker Bandit" was arrested yesterday after she robbed three South Florida banks in a four-day spree.
The dark-haired, frumpily dressed Mary Elizabeth Stapleton is the BSO's version of the famous Missouri outlaw, who police say ripped off three banks like a pro.
Stapleton was busted yesterday in Pompano Beach, cash strewn throughout her Mitsubishi Mirage, after a brazen daylight robbery in Deerfield Beach.
According to police, Stapleton walked into a Bank Atlantic shortly before 11:30 a.m. yesterday, and passed a threatening note to a teller.
Unfortunately for Stapleton, tellers had recognized her from a surveillance photo from one of her other jobs that had been circulated among bank employees.
A silent alarm was hit, and employees followed her outside the bank and got her car's license plate number. They also saw her toss the threatening note in the trash.
Stapleton was charged with three counts of strong-arm robbery.
Local
Police said she also hit a Bank of America Saturday morning in Lighthouse Point and another Bank Atlantic on Friday morning in Deerfield Beach.
